When he left school aged just 15, Mark Greenaway dreamt of having his own restaurant. Twenty years later, that dream was realised with Greenway’s eponymous establishment opening in Edinburgh. Having worked in numerous venues throughout the UK and Australia,...

Adam Byatt owns and runs both the Clapham fine-dining restaurant Trinity and casual concept Bistro Union – which he is hoping to expand. However the renowned chef, who learnt his trade at Claridge’s, has also faced challenges on the road to success.

Paul Deeming co-founded Ignite Group, the company behind London nightclub Boujis and restaurant group Bumpkin, in 1998 and remains part-owner. He is also acting chief financial officer of restaurant group Hakkasan where he is helping to spearhead its...

A former lawyer, Julia Hands founded Hand Picked Hotels in 1999 with her private equity financier husband - Guy Hands. Her hands-on approach has helped the collection grow to 17 purposefully individual hotels which will soon be joined by two recent acquisitions.

The chef opened Simpsons in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, more than 20 years ago, relocating the Michelin-starred favourite to Birmingham in 2004. Recently, Antona was instrumental in his head chef Adam Bennett’s successful fourth-place performance at the...

The son of a Tyneside fisherman, John Williams' distinguished hotel chef career has led him to head up the brigade at arguably one of the most famous hotels in the world - The Ritz London. Now he divides his time between 'evolving' the...

After a long career in the hotel industry, which included a stint with IHG as a chief operating officer, Arie van der Spek is now the senior vice president of Laureate Hospitality Education and is helping to launch a London branch of hospitality management...

The French chef, 56, operates restaurants all around the world, including a trio of three-Michelin-starred establishments. He has just received the Lifetime Achievement Award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Patrick Dempsey is a prime example of hard work paying off in the hospitality industry. Having started as a pot washer in a motorway service station, he climbed the ladder within Forte Hotels, going on to hold posts as chief executive of Macdonald Hotels...

The 54-year-old chef and co-owner of acclaimed restaurant Northcote in rural Lancashire is the founder of the well-established Obsession food festival. He and business partner Craig Bancroft also own the four-strong gastropub group Ribble Valley Inns...

Cyrus Todiwala trained in India as a chef and worked in hotels and restaurants there until he moved to the UK in 1991. He opened Cafe Spice Namaste in London in 1995 with wife Pervin, and has built up a successful business while also dedicating much of...